On September 12, Kid Rock performed the inaugural concert at the Little Ceasars Arena, using a lighting design by Nook Schoenfeld that featured STRIKE 4 fixtures from CHAUVET Professional.
“This artist has a close relationship with his crowd and wants to see them,” said Schoenfeld. “We make the crowd part of the show. It’s just one big party, where Kid Rock demands audience participation at times — and they give it to him. The STRIKEs provided us with some good focused audience light. They have the ability to manually pan/focus each cell wherever I want. I can hang the fixtures straight off the front truss, yet focus the bulbs at one designated section of the arena, without any extra pipes and clamps. My artist actually calls out certain sections of the arena at one point during his performance. The STRIKES allow me to light up certain sections while leaving others dark. Bob (Kid Rock) and I appreciate that.”
The STRIKE 4s were also used for the concert’s laser show.
“I work hand in hand with Scotty Wilson from PDI, who programs and runs my lasers,” Schoenfeld explained. “We follow parameters, so we coexist. I will never bring up the STRIKEs if we are at a part of the show that demands a big laser look, because that would defeat the purpose of what we’re doing. But we trade off quite a bit, so I can slam the audience in the face then black the Strikes out in zero time while he slaps in a solo laser look. The audible gasps Scotty gets us are lovely.”
In addition, the devices offered Schoenfeld individual control of each cell, a big bonus of his lighting design.
“I run the STRIKEs in a mode that gives me individual control of each cell as well as the overall dimming curve for the bulb,” said Schoenfeld. “If I need them to fade slowly like you do with a standard DWE bulb, I just switch the mode in the cue, which – by the way –gives me a beautiful orange tungsten tint. But sometimes I want the STRIKES to act like a kick in the face with an immediate bump-on with zero lag time, I also have that ability to do that.”
